Lions' Dante Marsh still miffed about near-masterpiece at Mosaic

Veteran more concerned about missed tackle than the record-tying 13 he made

Dante Marsh of the B.C. Lions was back at work Tuesday after a record-tying performance in Sunday's exciting victory against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina.

Photograph by: Arlen Redekop
, PNG

His 13 tackles Sunday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders tied a club record and represented the seventh-highest single-game total in Canadian Football League history.

Yet all Lions cornerback Dante Marsh could think about was the 14th — the one that got away.

In the wild final minute of B.C.’s 24-22 win over the Roughriders in Regina, he failed to make an open-field tackle against Saskatchewan receiver Taj Smith, allowing him to complete a 32-yard play that led to a go-ahead touchdown on a pass from Darian Durant to Weston Dressler with 38 seconds left.

The Lions appeared doomed. But, miraculously, they pulled out the victory on a Marco Iannuzzi kick return, two passes by quarterback Thomas DeMarco and Paul McCallum’s last-play field goal.

“I thought I had him wrapped up, but (Smith) went inside on me,” Marsh explained Tuesday as the Lions returned to the practice field.

“At the end of the day, he gets a cheque, too. I was pissed off. But, when somebody messes up, somebody else makes a play. The offence stepped up. But those two plays stick in my mind. If I intercept that ball, we’re not talking about the missed tackle. The game is over.”

With less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Lions ahead 21-12, Marsh had a pass from Durant to Smith hit him squarely in his jersey number — 31.

He dropped it. Deflating, but sobering.

“It’s a good thing,” he said. “It tells me I still have to work, work, work. I still feel like I’m getting better. I don’t feel like I’m slowing down. I don’t feel like my skills have deteriorated. I feel like I’ve played the best football of my career in these past three seasons (at age 32, 33 and 34). I’m from the Eddie Davis/Milt Stegall school of thought. ‘Take care of your body, man.’ If you put in the work and stay healthy, you can play a long time.”

Marsh’s 13 tackles tied Tracy Gravely for the club single-game record established in an Aug. 13, 1992, game against the Roughriders at BC Place.

The CFL record for tackles in a single game is 16, belonging to Reggie Hunt of the Roughriders (2003).

The baker’s dozen tied Marsh for seventh best all-time in a single game and moved him to 54 on the season, tied for sixth in the CFL and behind only linebacker Adam Bighill (57) on the Lions.

The franchise’s’ all-time tackles leader with 538, Marsh has only once been named a CFL all-star in his 10-year career. He has grown almost to accept the yearly snub, though he is regarded as one of the best open-field tacklers in the CFL.

Even after 13 tackles, typically he wasn’t getting much love this week.

The CFL defensive player of the week award went to linebacker Chip Cox of the Alouettes. He had eight tackles, two sacks and an interception in Montreal’s 28-26 loss to the Tiger-Cats.

And Lions head coach Mike Benevides gave the defensive game ball Sunday to halfback Josh Bell, who was outstanding with five tackles and a pass knockdown.

“He (Bell) was truly spectacular,” Benevides said. “Not only was he involved in the blitz game, where he had a tackle for a loss, but the ball was thrown at him a bunch of times, and he made plays. That’s one area where Josh assimilates so well with guys like Dante and Korey (Banks). He’s got that same toughness.”

Bell, the proprietor of Unda Dawg Kennels in Desoto, Texas, breeds a variation of a pit bull called the American bully. He says Marsh has plenty of “dawg” in him — a supreme compliment in football vernacular.

“It’s (an American bully) almost like a pit bull, but on steroids, you could say,” Bell explained. “A little bigger head, big muscles, big build, looks like a football player. If Dante Marsh was a canine, he would be an American bully by the way he’s built — tight, compact muscles, ripped up. That’s exactly the vision of the American bully.”

In college, Marsh played for the Fresno State Bulldogs where he was trained under coach Kevin Coyle, now the defensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins. Coyle is regarded as a master technician, constantly harping on veterans to use proper technique and fundamentals in tackling. Marsh has taken those lessons with him to Canada.

“When a ball is in my area, I’m going to get it, whether it’s my guy or not,” Marsh said. “I was taught to run, hit and be nasty. With a defensive mindset, that’s how you have to be. My old defensive coordinator, Kevin Coyle — one of the greatest coaches I ever played for — used to show us cut-ups (video) of NFL players sprinting and running toward the ball. That’s the way it was at Fresno. If you weren’t physical, you were never going to see the field. You had to tackle, you had to be tough. We didn’t have any finesse cover guys.

“That’s always been imbedded in me. When you run to the ball, good things happen.”

Marsh put up a crazy tackle number last game. But what he’ll remember is the conspicuous absence of No. 14 on his football resume.

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